I got this beauty from @Luman01 not quite two years ago. Here is how she looked last August.
The last couple months I started noticing more green appearing, and eventually it dawned on me that she was transitioning into a male. Here is what he looks like today.
I wonder what triggered the change. The one I had previously was 5-6 inches and stayed a female until it died. This one is only 3-4 inches, and in both cases the only leopard wrasse in the tank. The only thing I can think of is this started happening after a number of bigger fish died in November due to the ick/velvet outbreak. She became the third largest fish in the tank, behind the blue tang and Clarkii clown, so maybe she figured if I'm one of the big bad dudes left in the tank, I might as well actually be a dude.
The last couple months I started noticing more green appearing, and eventually it dawned on me that she was transitioning into a male. Here is what he looks like today.
I wonder what triggered the change. The one I had previously was 5-6 inches and stayed a female until it died. This one is only 3-4 inches, and in both cases the only leopard wrasse in the tank. The only thing I can think of is this started happening after a number of bigger fish died in November due to the ick/velvet outbreak. She became the third largest fish in the tank, behind the blue tang and Clarkii clown, so maybe she figured if I'm one of the big bad dudes left in the tank, I might as well actually be a dude.